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Day 4: The Distance Between Desks
Day 4 is the fourth chapter in the first volume of the Midori Days manga. Plot Synopsis Seiji is sitting in class the day following the fighting and notes that the distance between his desk and the others is larger than usual, and that he can't really blame anyone considering the fact that he beat up a gang in front of the whole school. He vows, mentally, to never fight again. Mere moments later, the splash page following shows Seiji finding a letter of challenge stating "DUEL US OR ELSE" in his desk. The letter, written by the gang he beat up, states he must show up to the Rokumonsen Warehouse by 11:00 AM. It also states that should he fail to show up, Osamu will be beaten in his place. Despite this, Seiji decides that he'll pretend he never saw the letter. He looks down at Midori and finds she happens to be asleep. Angry she's asleep at a time like this, he pops the cap on his pen and pokes her in the head with it. She awakens, but not without screeching in pain briefly from the poke. The class looks to Seiji, surprised at the sudden outburst, however Seiji apologizes for falling asleep and tells everyone to carry on. Midori tearfully demands an answer for his mean prank, however Seiji states that she can't fall asleep on him. Seiji happens to look over at Ayase, wondering if she found him out as she is staring very intently. He cannot get an answer from her, as her face flushes red and she breaks gaze with Seiji, looking back towards the front of the class. Seiji then spends a while looking over his message, and Midori finally reads it. Seiji states he won't show to the fight, however Midori assures him that fighting to protect his friends is different. She tells him that she'll be fine, and that he has to go save Osamu. Seiji goes against what he had said and decides to go. He gets up from his desk and walks out of the classroom without a word. Everyone watches as he goes, with many of them making rude statements about how he should just drop out and that he's likely just going off to fight. Takako makes an annoyed grimace at the door as Seiji leaves, however she reads over his note, which he had dropped on his way out, and her eyes shoot open in surprise. We then see Osamu being beaten up by the gang. He is bound up and in the yard of the large warehouse. They note there's only five minutes until 11:00 AM, and state Seiji decided not to show. Osamu rebuffs them, stating that Seiji would have never abandon his friends. He threatens and insults the gang holding him hostage, and even bites them, despite being repeatedly hit and beaten from the gang. Osamu's faith in Seiji is reassured when Seiji finally arrives to the fight. Making a joke about how they're already roughing up the hostage despite Seiji arriving on time, he wraps Midori and his arm with his school blazer. The gang leader orders his men to let Osamu leave, then begins telling Seiji that he's about to be paid back for the beating his gave his men on campus the other day. We then switch to Takako, who appears to be running through the streets to the Rokumonsen Warehouse. She is mentally conflicted, both confused and angry with Seiji. She believed Seiji wasn't some thug, some brute who uses force to solve his problems. She believed he was different, that ''that ''is why he saved her. She decides that she can, at the very least, give him a piece of her mind for running off and fighting again like some gang 'scum'. As she arrives at the warehouse, all she can think is that Seiji is likely happily enjoying himself punching everyone out. To her surprise, Seiji is on the ground in serious condition, curled up in a ball and being hit with pipes and bokken, and being kicked around while insulted. Takako isn't sure what to make of what she is seeing. She heard Seiji was nearly invincible; that Seiji could take on anyone. Despite this, Seiji is losing. The gang leader orders his men to stop attacking Seiji. That there's no 'fun' in fighting a coward who won't even fight back. The gang backs off, calling Seiji a series of cowardly names as they leave him there on the ground, bruised and injured. Takako finds herself confused, wondering what just happened. Midori, still wrapped up and safe, pleads to know if Seiji is okay. Seiji begins sitting up, signaling he is okay. Just as he does, Osamu walks up to Seiji. He points out that Seiji is better than all of them. Seiji is stronger than any of them can ever be. He wants to know why Seiji didn't even bother to hit back once. To this, Seiji points out that Osamu is too nearsighted on the issue. Seiji reasons that the gang took Osamu in order to get to Seiji. If he fought the gang, next time it could be anyone. The gang could kidnap a student Seiji barely knows and use them as innocent bait. However, by allowing the gang to beat Seiji until they saw him as no more than a coward, they'd surrender fighting him again out of boredom and the chain would be broken. Osamu begins crying at the selflessness that Seiji was able to employ. Seiji smiles it off, stands up, puts on his blazer, and tells him he doesn't have to cry about it. Unbeknown to Seiji and Osamu, Takako watches them as they leave. She smiles and blushes softly, impressed with Seiji and having fallen for him. The caption then states that it is the next day. Seiji goes to class and finds he's even further isolated, but is hardly surprised granted the excessive number of bandages on his head. While the rest of the classroom continue insulting him as normal, Takako surprisngly moves her desk back into position next to Seiji's. She states it is her proper position in the class seating chart, and so the desk should be where it belongs. While Takako plays it off as a completely normal angry-as-always Takako situation, Midori realizes that Seiji has somehow made a friend in the classroom. She finds herself happy for Seiji. This is changed, moments later, when Takako is assisting Seiji in understanding the class material, to which Midori pokes Seiji's hand, resulting in him recoiling in pain. The ending chapter caption states "Midori's first bout with jealousy ..." Notes * When Seiji is asking for assistance from Takako, she reads the problem off as "Find an A, where B and C--" indicating that she's helping him with a math problem. * When Seiji checks his watch during class, it is 10:45 AM. The warehouse is, therefore, less than 15 minutes from the school on foot. * It isn't ever stated if Takako skipped class to find out what Seiji was doing, or if she left to find out after class. She also doesn't have anything with her other than Seiji's letter of challenge, meaning she either didn't bring anything to school that she didn't usually leave there, or simply didn't take anything with her. * Apparently the faculty does not mind the students alienating Seiji's desk, as the desks are clearly shown to keep being moved further and further apart. Category:Manga Chapters Category:Volume 1 Category:Chapters involving Osamu Category:Chapters involving Takako Category:Browse Category:Days